Swan Song
by Stylus of Gold
Summary: With darkness looming on the horizon, Swan discovers the sins of his past life and finds them catching up to him. Swan uses a modified version of his Under the Rose profile.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1–Heritage**

"Arianna, Arianna," said Dace in amazement, gently shaking his head in disbelief, "I can't believe you actually found it!"

Dace, Swan and Arianna were entering a massive chamber of marble, brass, starmetal and orichalcum. Great pillars and arches supported the ceiling, which was a massive adjustable star-chart. In the centre was an orrery over sixty feet from side to side, modelling the motions of the planets and the constellations in tandem with the star chart in the closest approximation to the workings of the loom of fate there ever built.

When Arianna had claimed she had found the tool for divining the future in Denandsor, the rest of the circle thought it was a wild goose chase, in fact Panther & Jade hadn't even come here.

The three of them had to step over some pretty dangerous traps to get here, as well as do an immense amount of research, but they'd finally arrived at what was looking to be the largest astrological chamber in Creation. In addition, this chamber held the equipment necessary to trace the path of an Celestial Exaltation back into the past and even into the future (with some vague accuracy), which few if any other such astrological arrays were capable of.

"So," began Arianna, "Let's get started!" striding over to a control panel, she motioned Dace to follow her. She began working a huge set of dials and switches, continuing "Dace, you stand on that rune. We can use it to find out who you were in your past life, then check in the adjacent hall of legends for details on your past," she smiled "And then we can use this orrery to predict the future, assuming the bronze faction hasn't sabotaged it…"

It had been three weeks since the rescue of Tepet Ejava, and they'd been looking to find the orrery ever since a couple "Sidereals" of the "Gold faction" had approached them and told them of this massive conspiracy, as well as that the sidereals had been all but wiped out in an event known as the "Lotus massacre" and had urged the circle to find the Orrery of the Silent City to gain an advantage over the rising forces of the Queen of Hell.

Arianna worked the controls and the orrery slightly adjusted, shining light upon Dace. Arianna regarded the screen and looked up, declaring "Well, you're the reincarnation of one Kan-Hur. We can see who he is in the hall. Come on Swan!" she exclaimed exasperatedly, motioning him to stand on the rune as Dace left it. Arianna was always like this with Swan, even, or perhaps especially, over trivialities.

She worked the controls, the orrery adjusted, and she looked up, declaring "Desus. Your exaltation once belonged to someone named Desus. Now, you go look yourself up. I'll get to divining the future."

Swan walked over to the library, shaking his head slightly. Once Arianna was in this sort of mood, it was best just to leave her alone with whatever was the object of her latest obsession.

Swan searched through the vast library, searching through bookcase after bookcase for the name "Desus". This hall of legends was a gigantic archive, with books or booklets on the deeds of every Solar and Lunar exalt before the Usurpation, as well as a few notable Terrestrials.  
After over an hour of hunting, he finally found the book titled "Desus". It was bound in some kind of hide, decorated with Gold Filigree and written in Old Realm. He gingerly opened it, seeing that it was written in beautifully illuminated script. He began to read.

As he read, he learned that yes, Lilith had been his mate and they'd fought and loved and won during the Primordial war, of which little is spoken of in the book. He read of how Desus became a great leader in the First Age, had helped found the Solar Deliberative, had helped draft the contract which kept the Yozi & their demons enslaved, had negotiated with the first kings of the Underworld, had robbed a creature known as the Logic Engine of it's power by, in tandem with a trio of Twilight researchers, defeating it in formal debate, had killed the rogue solar general Torquemada in a sword-fight, defeating him with the technique he had invented mere days before as a capstone for the Snake Style, and so on and so forth.

It became clear to Swan as he read that his previous incarnation was one of the founding fathers of the Old Realm, with a long and glorious career. Around a third of the way through, he started to wonder why Lilith refused to speak of Desus, or even mention him by name. He read and read, and it became apparent to him that Desus had fallen into decadence after a couple centuries of peace. He had blinded a peaceful behemoth just to see what would happen, though the book made it seem quite heroic. He had taken to excessive displays of every excess, he had killed those who had offered him insight, he had taken to clandestine affairs with a number of exalts and mortals, but it was all presented in the same heroic light that his exploits in the beginning had been.

It spoke then a little of Lilith, how her loyalty to Desus was so great that she would fly into great rages when anyone dared to criticize him, one notable instance being that when a young dawn caste had asked if Desus had given her her broken arm, she had leapt on him and slain him where he stood, her arm still broken, pecking his eyes out and slitting his throat.

Swan put down the book, disgusted. So this was why Lilith didn't talk of Desus: he had used some kind of charm on her to keep her enslaved, probably tormented her, he didn't know. He did know that he no longer had any pride for his former incarnation.

Dace came around looking a little sick yet simultaneously excited, telling him "Swan! I got the codes to the Five-Metal Shrike!" which jolted Swan out of his reflection. Dace flipped to page sixty of his book, showed him a page. The page detailed how he had commissioned the Five-Metal Shrike to replace the Titan-class directional fortresses, hired with the Twilights Arnos, Elsander and Rhaea to design and build it and had put a special command code on it so no-one else could command it.

"Where?" asked Swan, at which Dace furrowed his brow and pointed right at the bottom of the page, exclaiming "There! Can't you see it?" but that section of the page was blank, as it should be: he was pointing at the margins. Then it dawned on him: "Of course," he sighed, "Letter-within-a-letter technique, just like Reza used," referencing another eclipse caste who had risen to some prominence in Nexus. Dace nodded agreement, adding "Yes, it wouldn't make sense to leave the codes for anyone but his reincarnation," then continued "Now we just need to go after the Shrike!" saying it as though it was the easiest thing in the world. Swan chuckled, catching the sarcasm.

The two of them returned to the chamber to share the news with Arianna, neither of them mentioning their former selves' past. It was better this way. It wouldn't do to discuss the sins of their past lives now. Now they were heroes again, and they had a job to do, which at this point was tracking down the five-metal shrike, which in this case meant going to the libraries of Nexus, check with the gods at Great Forks, consult with experts, perhaps using the (crippled by Bronze Faction operatives to facilitate the Usurpation but still partially functional) orrery… it was going to be a big job, but should they succeed, it could change the whole war effort.

–––––––––––––––––––––––

But this is not a tale of war and heroics. It is not a tale of battles and chases and races against time. What is this a tale of, you ask? It is the tale of a tale told by a man to a woman, mind to mind, heart to heart, soul to soul.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2–Freedom lets go**

Swan reread the letter. It was scribbled in old realm by a hand that clearly hadn't written for years. It read "If you want to find the Shrike, go to the air manse on the far southwest end of Denandsor and meet me there in one week. Come alone. –Lilith"

He knew he had to go: he couldn't just hide from Lilith, plus she seemed to know about the Shrike. They'd had little luck with the libraries of Nexus or their own research so far these past couple of days, and Lilith was from that time. So he packed his bags, brought his swords, and struck out for Denandsor.

First, however, he'd have to talk to Tenebrous.

Tenebrous was somewhat of a legend in Nexus: a mortal sorcerer. He was reliable, powerful and could be trusted to keep a secret. Swan entered his office in the university, introducing himself with a polite formal greeting. "Good morning, Tenebrous," he began, "I'd like to hire you for a certain task."

Tenebrous looked up from his book, recognizing Swan immediately. "Ah, Swan," he said, smiling, "What can I do for you?" his face beamed; the man always liked working with Swan. "Well," said Swan, "I would like to arrange transportation via Stormwind to the city of Denandsor," at which Tenebrous started, "Denandsor? That place is far, and bad luck besides! What do you want there?" Swan replied elusively "I'm meeting an old friend."

There was a pause. Then Tenebrous finally let up. "Alright, I'll take you. But it'll cost you! I'm assuming you'll want a round trip?" Swan nodded, "Yes, I will. I'll be staying there until roughly a week from now and I'd rather be alone at my destination, and no-one else can know where we're going."

Normally Tenebrous would not accept, but he'd already agreed to take him and so wouldn't back out of it now, he'd merely say "Alright, but that'll cost you double," as he just did, shaking his head as he did so and sounding agitated. Swan produced several dinars and handed them to Tenebrous.

Four days later, they were on their way. It took them a good three days to get there, during which time Swan couldn't help but wonder if his circle-mates –or the authorities in Nexus, for that matter– might come after him, possibly using an Azure Chariot or even faster method to outpace him and demand where he was going. If that was the case, he was sure he could talk his way out of it.

The plains zipped by as they sped along, born on the mighty stormwind, inexorably, towards their ultimate destination. The plains and streams zoomed by, the land once ravaged by war now on the path to slow recovery as, ironically enough, a far greater war loomed on the horizon. He'd heard a demagogue Zenith refer to it as the "War Against the Darkness," and he supposed the monicker was appropriate.

_But, _Swan wondered, _Is the darkness really on the Blessed Isle? Is the Queen of Hell really the biggest threat here? Or are we? We who profess to be fighting to save the world, are we going to become it's tyrants again?_

Stopping for the night, Swan and Tenebrous feasted on hard tack and dried meat. Swan did not speak much with the sorcerer; odd for Swan, but he was still absorbed in his own thoughts. _Why, _he wondered, _has Lilith told me to meet her there alone? What could she know about the Shrike? Could it be that she is planning to kill me? It would make sense… even Desus wouldn't be able to enforce unnatural mental influence for so many millennia… and she probably hates me for what Desus did to her. Well, if that's the case I'm probably a dead man: she's easily one of the strongest Exalts in the world and there is no way I'd be able to evade her._

Arriving at Denandsor days later, Swan was once again dazzled by the scale of the silent city. It was still ruins, but he could almost see the glory that had once been here: the vast domed buildings of glass and steel, the spiralling pillars of shining stone, and the more esoteric, exotic buildings which were now naught but so much rubble. Approaching the southwest end, he instructed Tenebrous to leave the Stormwind here, then got to walking towards the one building which still stood: A small shrine of ancient construction, seemingly simple compared to what the buildings around it must have been in the days of the Old Realm. Nonetheless, it was still standing, and thus was likely where Lilith wanted to meet him, though it showed no outward signs of being an air manse: there was no soaring construction, no dust-devils forming around it, in fact no weather effects at all! In the glory days, it likely would've been a very inconspicuous manse.

He approached it cautiously: Denandsor was always full of surprises. As he reached the front steps, he noticed two tiny automaton beetles lying on the ground, shredded to bits. Wondering if Lilith had destroyed them, he opened the door, noticing a pair of larger, humanoid automatons of jade and steel, also covered in large gashes. The manse's interior was a huge, open construction, which could almost be considered huge if it were judged by Second Age standards, but in the Old Realm it likely would only appeared to have been a small, local temple.

Swan heard a scuffle it before the huge deathknight tackled him.

Wheeling around and out of the way, he just barely avoided the huge man, who wore a skull-like mask and a soulsteel bloodspike harness, with large charcoal-black soulsteel spiders adorning his wrists.

Swan jerked his head back as the deathknight swung at his face, and, drawing his hookklaives, adopted the traditional stance of Snake Style, ten moulded his essence to harden his skin and blades as he once again retreated from his foes strike.

It did not seem as though the deathknight was going to stop, but he seemed not to be thinking much about his own defence, and so Swan hooked his knee and sent him crashing to the ground, his immense bulk causing him to fall with immense force. However, to Swan's dismay as he retreated and caught his breath, his foe hadn't suffered a scratch.

His enemy's face unreadable beneath the mask, he snarled, barking out "Consuming entropy barrage!" and unleashed a storm of slashes with his spider-claws. Swan activated his serpentine evasion as his foe's anima flared up, revealing a vast black maw behind him, but one of the strikes got through his defences.

His left shoulder exploded in pain, a huge gash running from it down into his chest. He felt his defences weakening and his instincts telling him to run. However, he had been nearly backed up against the wall. There was nowhere to run.

"Snake strikes the heel!" he screamed. After all, a snake was most dangerous when it was cornered. His blow connected with the deathknight's arm, shearing through flesh but not inflicting much damage.

His huge foe attempted to grab him and impale him on the Bloodspike harness, but Swan used his serpentine evasion to dodge the strike. Swan was defending almost completely, allowing his foe's essence to deplete with his furious attack. Of course, that's what Swan told himself. In reality it was as much because he was scared as anything else.

Swan's foe twisted and flowed around him as his anima surged, spinning and compressing as, for just a moment, he disappeared entirely from sight. Then Swan thanked the Unconquered Sun for his Surprise Anticipation Method and wheeled, barely blocking his foe's vicious blow.

Swan continued to retreat and use Serpentine Evasion as his foe pressed forward with a volley of attacks, practically willing himself to keep blocking as the situation became more & more desperate. His foe continued to blast in, seemingly sure of his victory as he roared "Shrouded grasp of the spider!" as his anima surged and flared, a great shadow coming out to try and ensnare him. Swan, however, leapt through the shadows, past the deathknight and out of his grasp, using his Shadow over Water technique to escape the abyssal exalt's attack.

Swan pivoted, finally regaining his senses. His foe had been so confident in his victory he had expended vast quantities of Essence in all-out attacks. Taking a moment to aim as his foe continued to try and grab him, Swan pumped Essence into himself and his swords, activating Striking Serpent Speed. His first strike bit in, tearing a gobbet out of his foe's flesh (though this didn't faze the Deathknight much at all). His second strike struck true, going straight through his all of his foe's defences, raking against his flesh. His foe pitched down, horrified at the growing wound in him. It would have been obvious to anyone who cared to look and who knew anything about Snake Style what technique he had just used: the Essence Venom Strike.

The deathknight slumped down, his eyes bulging as he haemorrhaged from the neck wound, all his exalted defences failing and his wound bleeding just like a mortal's would.

Swan stumbled over him, his thoughts coming back into focus, the thrill and fear of battle leaving him. _Why was he here? _he wondered_, Did Lilith lead him here? And where is she?_

At that moment, his question was answered as, at the last moment, he heard Lilith's descent and barely dodged her spear. It stuck into the ground and Lilith looked up at him. She was in her war form, and there was hatred in that daggered gaze, a hatred born of thousands of years of abuse and cruelty, a hatred nurtured since before Swan was born. Before he was born, this woman had decided to take her revenge on whoever inherited Desus' exaltation: effectively, Swan's fate was sealed since the moment he exalted.

There was no way to outfight her; the thought never even crossed his mind. There was no way to run from her; she was far too fast. He couldn't trick her, not after enduring Desus' deceptions for so long. She had him in his clutches, there was no escape. Yet, curiously, Swan still loved her. In fact, this was the first time he truly loved her, not vicariously through Desus but as himself. He saw her in that moment as he peeled his way through her daggered gaze, pushing past the hate and seeing the fury of the moment, the rage at the sight of him, the underlying pain, the helplessness at seeing the old Desus slowly disappear, the conflicting whirlwind that had sent her running off alone after the Usurpation, the feeling that all of it: the beatings, the madness, the Usurpation itself, was all her fault.

He saw past all that, though, and saw that after all this time, she still loved Desus, still loved Swan, and that she hated herself for that. He also saw that somewhere, some part of that knew Swan was not Desus was screaming at her to stop, and upon seeing the deepest reaches of her heart, upon accepting every feature and understanding every cause, he found it impossible not to love her, for he knew her and he accepted her and he felt he would do anything for her. He knew his life was likely forfeit, but he now fought for something greater: he was going to set Lilith free if it was the last thing he did.

Relaxing her shoulders, Swan let his swords slip from his hands and clatter onto the ground. Lilith appeared confused for a moment, then snarled "Desus…" and Swan knew he'd have to act quickly, lest she skewer him, but also must be calm, lest she dismiss him as a begging snake. Letting his hands drop to his sides, Swan began, quietly, with "I'm sorry."

Lilith scowled, growling "This time, Desus?" a hint of unhinged frenzy barely contained behind her voice, "Now you're sorry? Sorry, but too late! Three thousand years too late," and she began approaching him, spear pointed at his heart. Swan shook his head, saying "I'm sorry because I'm not Desus. Desus died over a thousand years ago," he could tell she knew, tell somewhere she understood, but that nonetheless she still wasn't free of Desus after all these years. Nevertheless, she did stop approaching him just outside of her reach.

"I understand what Desus did. And I know why you want to kill me, and I understand if you do. But then, do you know what will happen?" she continued to glare at him, her eyes seeming to burn into his soul, "What?" she demanded, and Swan responded "I will die. The exaltation will find a new host, and you will go after them. And you will never be free of Desus."

Lilith wailed, thrust forward, eyes closed. Swan dodged, but too little, too late. She impaled his left arm, pinning him to the wall, then stopped as he cried out. Her mouth had turned into a hooked beak. Tears were flooding down her face, for she was now remembering the love Desus had bore her, the torment he had inflicted on her, and wrestling with the fact that the man she had just stabbed was not Desus, that she felt no great triumph at pinning him to the wall despite planning to kill him, indirectly through that deathknight she'd lured here or directly with her own spear, ever since she had first met him.

Swan panted, trying to regain his breath and fight through the pain. He needed to make her see, but didn't know how. He'd shown her that killing him would avail her nothing, but without anything else to do, she'd do it all the same. He harkened back, searching his memory for something, any other option. Then it came to him; came to him from the most unlikely of sources: ravings of a Green Sun Prince on the subject of his patron, Adorjan. He'd said "Freedom lets go."

Swan opened his eyes, and for a moment, there was no pain. There was no dying deathknight, no manse, no spear, no war form. There was only Swan and Lilith. And in that moment, Swan said "Desus only lives in your memories. You want to kill him? Fly off, let him die. Be free of him. Let Desus go."

Lilith seemed to soften for a moment, then extracted her spear. She locked gazes with him one last time, then took off. He knew, in that moment, that he would never see her again. She had let go of Desus, she had let go of him.

Five minutes later, as he made his way to Tenebrous after crudely bandaging up his arm and shoulder, Arianna and Panther caught up with him. They'd taken an azure chariot to try and catch him, but it had taken quite some time to track him down. "What happened to you?" Arianna demanded, a hint of concern concealed behind her scorn.

"Well," said Swan, "I may have found something that'll lead us to the Shrike."

He left it as that. Better to leave Arianna and Panther out of all this. She didn't want to know about Lilith: she'd just assume it'd been the deathknight's bloodspike harness. What happened between Swan and Lilith would stay clandestine for all time, but both of them would never be the same afterwards. And in the the face of the darkness, that freedom, that little flicker of light, was worth fighting for.


End file.
